// MEDIA+ENTERTAINMENT //
Dancehall Superstar Sean Paul on Cannabis and COVID By Sara Brittany Somerset
Jamaican dancehall recording artist and producer Sean Paul is regarded as one of the genre’s most prolific artists. Paul’s singles “Get Busy” and “Temperature” topped the charts in the United States. With seven studio albums and one EP under his belt, most of them were
nominated for the Grammy’s Best Reggae Album, with Dutty Rock winning the prestigious award. Paul is featured in many chart-toppers singles, including “Baby Boy” with Beyoncé, “Rockabye” by Clean Bandit, and “Cheap Thrills” by Sia. Cannabis & Tech Today
chatted with the superstar in his studio in Kingston, Jamaica. We discussed his new album, Live N Livin, COVID-19, and of course, cannabis.
On Music Cannabis & Tech Today: Tell me about your new album. Sean Paul: My new album is called Live N Livin. It’s more of a Dutty Rock production thing, so basically more hardcore dancehall. It features people like Buju Banton, Jr Gong, Busy Signal, a more established zone of what I call successful dancehall, and younger contingent; you know what I mean? People like Govana, Intence, Masicka, Skillibeing, Squash. So, it’s an attempt to kind of show the unity in the dancehall community. It’s an attempt to bring on board more collaborations and clashes. It’s something I’m very proud of. So, yeah. Good vibes! There’s also more feel-good songs that people know me for on this album. There’s also more meaningful songs, songs to combat social issues and the violence in society. There’s a more mature approach to a hardcore dancehall album. C&T Today: Have you found the advent of the pandemic has hindered or helped your creative process?
Photo: Fernando F Hevia
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Cannabis & Tech Today // Summer 2021
SP: At first, it threw me off, and I was in hiding for five months. I have Asthma. So, I was like, I’m not going nowhere. I didn’t leave the house for months. And during that time, I was building rhythms at home, and I couldn’t find the words for anything. I went back to the studio, and then the lyrics just started to flow, and different ideas just started to come. I had a few songs here and there that I hadn’t finished, like some collabs with Busy Signal and Govana, and I was like, let me try to complete these. What helped me was
